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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
| Abbas dissolves govt, calls for multinational force in Gaza | |
| 2007-06-15 | |
| Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday night issued a "presidential decree" dissolving the Hamas-led unity government and declaring a state of emergency in the Palestinian territories, PA officials here said. They added that Abbas informed representatives of the Quartet of his decision and asked for their backing. Abbas phoned US Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice and briefed her on the latest developments in the Gaza Strip, the officials added. They said Abbas was also planning to call for deploying an international force in the Gaza Strip to restore law and order. "President Abbas has decided to fire the government," said one official. "Ismail Haniyeh is no longer the prime minister and soon there will be a new government." Abbas's decision was taken after two days of intensive discussions with Fatah leaders, who exerted heavy pressure on him to fire Haniyeh's government. Some of the Fatah leaders went as far as threatening to declare an open revolt against Abbas unless he began taking a series of measures in response to Hamas's massive offensive in the Gaza Strip. Hamas scoffed at Abbas's decision and expressed doubt that he would be able to implement it. "How can you declare a state of emergency if you don't have a government to enforce it?" asked Hamas legislator Salah Bardaweel. "Only a government can enforce a state of emergency." Bardaweel pointed out that in any case a new government would have to be approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is still dominated by Hamas. He said that the situation in the Gaza Strip was improving now that Hamas was in full control.
According to Israel Radio, Hamas's spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, rejected Abbas's announcement shortly afterward, claiming that according to Palestinian law, Abbas could not set up an emergency government. The Syrian-based deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said Thursday night there would be no change in Gaza's status, no Islamic rule declared in Gaza and ruled out Hamas separating Gaza from the West Bank. He said Abbas's decision to fire his Hamas prime minister would complicate matters and that Haniyeh would likely continue on the job. "Gaza will remain Gaza and there will be no changes in its future and will continue to be linked to the West Bank whether he (Abbas) removed the government or not." He rejected talk of declaring an Islamic state in Gaza. "This talk has no basis... We are committed to the rules and basic laws organizing the Palestinian Authority," he said. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Abbas was also planning to call for deploying an international force in the Gaza Strip to restore law and order. Sure, Mahmoud. Maybe we pull a few French soldiers off the beaches of Lebanon, eh? We'll call you. |
| Posted by: The UN 2007-06-15 09:34 |
| #1 How can you declare a state of emergency if you don't have a government to enforce it Abbas will snap his fingers and create one tomorrow, wait and see. As for enforcing, well, tuff one. Maybe he's got some cash to pay off some righteous thugs. We even have no problem coordinating it with Fatah I've seen the videos... these latin words, they are so confusing... did you mean perchance coercion instead of coordination? |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-06-15 02:27 |